#MASKMONDAY: Kiehl's Brand Spankin' New Herbal Masks

Hi haters and welcome to MASK MONDAY, a very sporadic new tradition in which I join forces with Amber (who insisted on not being delegated to "skincare sidekick," but is basically acting as the "Kelly Williams to my Bey" — her words, not mine, moving on) and together we cover new and exciting face masks to keep your mug on ten.

How was your weekend? Mine was...a lot. I went to Chicago to cover something for xoJane (I can’t wait to tell you guys about it) and I brought my best friend along so we could, you know, rage. Turns out, I got super sick and my body shut down on me. That was cute. I was feeling so bad that I couldn't even drink through it, I ended up going back to the hotel EARLY.

Spring has been kicking the shit out of me, over and over again. It’s my own fault, really. I'm back to my old tricks. I haven’t been eating enough and I’ve been drinking a little too much, and working a ton. I’m not beating myself up about it, March just happens to be a busy month I guess, but it finally got the best of me.

Thing is, my skin has been looking good lately, and I know that this lack of sleep, malnourishment, and partying is going to catch up with me quick if I don’t settle the hell down. And I will! But until then, I’m doing everything I can to keep my skin in this awesome condition. I’ve been masking almost every day, which has worked wonders. My skin probably looks better than it would if I was drinking enough water and getting eight hours of sleep! The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for the two new masks from Kiehl’s to land at my door.

TYNAN: I am always here for a beauty product made with cilantro. I love it. I want it in my food, in my drinks, and on my face.First off, this is a night mask, which I feel isn’t super clear until you read the fine print. I love a night mask. There’s no better way to get all the benefits of a great mask than by putting it on and letting it sink in overnight. This one is all about saving your skin from all of the pollution and free radicals in the air that our skin is up against every day. As if leaving your apartment needs to be any scarier, now you’re telling me that simply going outside can make my skin worse? It’s like fighting an uphill battle.

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TYNAN: I was excited about this one from the jump because oranges are packed with vitamin c and antioxidants, which both make your skin look amazing. I always try to make sure that I’m using at least one product that contains vitamin c because nothing brightens and tones my face like it. Cilantro helps to strengthen skin to help it retain moisture for longer. It also contains nutrients that the pollutants that we face on the daily rob your skin of.

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AMBER: I'm not going to lie, I like to FEEL a mask digging into my pores and sloughing off my dry, damaged, and overall icky skin in a tingly derm-apocalypse of dead skin cells and retribution. Basically, I like a little burn. The Cilantro & Orange Extract Pollutant Purifying Mask does not burn. It barely tingles. It does soothe in a way that feels nice and taste delicious (I'm not eating it, I'm just saying). However, I have a hard time telling if "it's working" because I can't feel it in action (you can see what the kinds of damaging effects from pollution I'm working against).

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TYNAN: Cover your face with this mask for five or ten minutes and then wipe it off using a tissue or a soft cloth. Don’t rinse. Leave on whatever is left over and massage it into your face to let it sink in overnight. A full night of sleep with a mask like this will do wonders for your skin over time.

After I got back to the hotel on Saturday night, feeling like hell, I took a hot shower and did this mask. It felt great, and when I woke up, my skin looked...well, normal. That night was the first night in a while that I'd gotten eight hours of sleep, so that had to help, but my face looked hydrated, clear, and healthy. I may have felt horrible, but my skin hid any signs of me feeling like the Walking Dead.

TYNAN: Open the jar and yuck, that yellow sludge doesn’t exactly look like stuff you want to be smearing all over your face. You’ll be glad you did when your skin is brighter throughout the day, trust me.

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AMBER: I thought the yellow clay mess in this tiny orange jar looked AMAZING like ambrosia a medicine woman concocted by light of the full moon to clear up my dark spots and stubborn upper lip blemishes. I guess if you've got dewy angel skin like Tynan, you can be picky about what you smear on your face. Let me be clear, I don't have that luxury.

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TYNAN: Both turmeric and cranberry are very rich in antioxidants which are great for increasing cell renewal, giving you brighter skin, faster. Cranberry is especially great at energizing your skin, hiding signs of fatigue and making you look more awake, even if you were out until 4 am the night before. Not that I'd know. Continued use of this mask will even tone, promote smoother skin, and increase radiance. Apply a generous layer of the mask and leave it on for five to ten minutes (I did fifteen, ten just doesn’t seem long enough.)

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AMBER: Unlike the gentle overnight Cilantro & Orange Extract Pollutant Purifying Mask, you can FEEL this one at work. I had some gnarly long-term blemishes on my chin and upper lip and after the dual exfoliation + detox properties of this mask, those problem areas were softened. With my particular skin tone, a healed blemish becomes a brown dot instead of fading away to dewy nothingness (cough, TYAN, cough). This mask seems to speed along the healing process — sucking out (I'm sorry, bear with me) whatever is clogging your pores and soothing the clogged pore itself.

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The paste dries pretty quickly but doesn’t get tight or uncomfortable as it sits. Instead of scraping this off with a warm towel, I splashed a bunch of water on it to soften it, and then gently massaged it away. The mask is made with real cranberry seeds which provide a gentle exfoliation as you rub them away, ridding your face of any dry skin. Plus, the facial massage is a quick and easy way to increase blood flow, which also works to make your skin look healthier.